The Marks of Wishes
Haozheng Sui
From ancient times to the present, animals often possess symbolic meaning in stories, architecture, and visual art. From the strength of the lion in tapestries and coats of arms to the worship of sacred animals as deities or sacrifices, the snake's embodiment of evil in The Bible, humans have strong emotional connections to animals and what they represent. What do animals mean to us? What are the ways we see ourselves and our values, desires, and identities? How have human desires changed over time? I researched five animals' symbolic meanings and stories and created a book cataloging animals' symbolism from past to present. This book investigates animal avatars that introduce the human wishes of power, wealth, and love.
The "power" avatars present the domination and ambition of our ancestors. They respected animals, yearned for animals' talents, and hoped humans and other living creatures could benefit and live together. They were hoping to get the strength to protect the community and against danger. Many years later, when the factory and technology appeared in human society, humans thought about improving their quality of material life, which is why the "wealth" avatars came into our lives. Today, human technology may be growing faster than we could imagine. Even though we no longer want to have beyond ordinary physical strength or mysterious power sources. People want to focus on their spiritual life to communicate with others to have emotional support in their life. And that is why the avatars of "love" were created.